Unlocking Futures alters the way young people think about themselves from having limited possibilities, to experiencing an unimaginable successful future. Staff, Course Leaders and Mentor-coaches are extensively trained and practiced to maximize each young person’s chance to succeed.

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YOUTH GRADUATES ARE HAPPY TO SAY…

I would not have had the experiences that have helped me shape much of who I am today if not for Unlocking Futures. The program has had a great impact on how I choose associates, how I take on projects and how I look at the lessons and challenges I face.

Terrance Abney, Graduate

To me the difference now is just knowing that I can do anything. That all I have in my life is my word and once I put my mind to it anything is possible.

Inez Nunez, Graduate

The four day Unlocking Futures workshop was so intense. At the end we could actually talk to each other without erupting into violence. After that I stopped hanging out with the people I used to and got serious about my life.

Rick Childs, Graduate

I have learned from Unlocking Futures that I am special. I have value. I am destined to be someone. Today I am the Asst. President of my church’s youth group. I’m also enrolled in a Bachelor’s program and a case manager for HIV+ youth.

Melissa Harrison, Graduate

If it wasn’t for Youth At Risk Unlocking Futures I wouldn’t even be alive right now.

Carmelo Arrocho, Graduate

I have been a juvenile probation officer for 22 years. It costs $240 a day to place one ira youth in an Office of Children and Family Services facility for a year. It costs on average $140,000 to place a youth in a residential facility for one year. It costs Unlocking Futures $3,800 per youth to participate in a 3 day residential intensive. Using the curriculum for possibility, Unlocking Futures has significantly reduced the number of youth returning to the juvenile justice system with the population served in the last 25 years. Probation programs would save millions of dollars connecting with Unlocking Futures.

Luther Garrison, Probation Officer

I became involved with Unlocking Futures in 1997. Back then I was young(er), thin(ner), dark haired lawyer looking for an organization where I could work directly with kids and make a real difference in a way that my legal pro bono work, while important, could not do. Now, as an older, greyer, less thin Family Court Judge, I remain involved with Unlocking Futures for precisely the same reasons. While my role with the organization has evolved over the years– Mentor, member of the Board of Directors, Board Chairperson, advisor, changed over the years– I along with the many other long-time volunteers remain committed to the organization’s mission.

Unlocking Futures success has shown me time and again how having a caring, dedicated, and trained mentor with whom they meet regularly improves their self-esteem, academic achievement and overall wellbeing of the young person. The work that Unlocking Futures does is for many of the young people accessing the programs, nothing short of life saving. I have personally witnessed the life and behavioral changes made by the young people who go on to succeed, graduate school, stay out of the juvenile justice and criminal justice systems and lead happy, healthy, productive lives. That is why 18 years later I continue to spend my time and money supporting Unlocking Futures.

Hon. Sherri Eisenpress, Family Court Judge

The youth, who are now living, contributing adults are the testimonials for Unlocking Futures.

When I first learned of this organization back in 1992 and was introduced to its methodology and interacted with young people whose lives were transformed as a result of the work, I knew that I was witnessing the real deal.

Coming from a background in child welfare where thousands of dollars are spent to protect abused and neglected children across the United States, I knew firsthand that child welfare did not have interventions to rescue youth whose lived experiences had developed into harden narratives that became scripts for a present and a future that provided no way out of despair.

Unlocking Futures supports youth in gaining freedom from their narratives of gloom and impossibility. Youth break with their past narratives and with the help of committed partners develop life anew, hour by hour and day-by-day. They develop the social capital to ensure that going forward they know how to access resources to move forward in life.

Unlocking Futures’ work is transformative for youth, adults and

Willie Tolliver, Associate Professor

ADULT VOLUNTEERS REVEAL A SECRET…

LET THE PROFESSIONAL EVIDENCE SPEAK…

At the core of all [Unlocking Futures] program activities is the Curriculum for Possibilities. The CFP consists of “distinctions” which can be thought of as tools needed to shift the internal discourse of youth. These “distinctions” promote goal-directed behavior and empower the youth to shift their thinking and locus of control. The activities and strategies used in the CFP training aim to help young fathers move from victim of circumstance and environment to one of thriving individual who is in control of his own future. The CFP gives the young fathers the tools they need to adopt new ways of thinking and to try out new approaches. Doing so is crucial to their ability to become self-sufficient, increase their financial responsibility with their child, improve their engagement with their child as well as to establish a co-parenting relationship.

Ana L. Zevallos, Ph.D., Research Consultant, 2013

The data supports the [Unlocking Futures] Woman to Woman program in realizing goals which will contribute to dramatic increases in resilience and competent participation of these mothers, their children, and families in the full educational and occupational opportunities for active self-sufficiency and participation in improvements in society.

RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Living an Inspired Life at Ashoka

In Early November 2015 Board member, Sandeep Machanda and his friend Vineet Gupta, a co-founder of Ashoka University, invited us to bring transformational learning to the Harvard of India.

[Course conducted January 9-19, 2016]

Bowlathon Funds Woman to Woman Program

The Bowlathon 2016 fundraising campaign… What a huge success! $80,000 in donations almost doubling the original target.

Unlocking Futures of Phoenix Launched!

In Phoenix Arizona, we are a small group committed to waking up others to their greatness. We, Katie Malone, Veronica Magallanes and Kevin Sanders share a vision that Unlocking Futures of Phoenix (UFPX) be not only fully created, but also sustained by volunteers.

Parents as Mentors

Most of the time we are working with students and mentors. Our mentors are trained to see the child as the possibility of all possibilities. Unlocking Futures will continue to use mentors, however we are taking a bold stand by declaring Parents are the best mentors for their children.

Promising Pathways Mentoring Program for Middle School Students

Sixty minutes outside of Manhattan,Unlocking Futures, Inc. expanded and partnered with the Mental Health Association of Rockland County, to launch a six month mentoring program for middle school students selected because of failing grades. Research shows that high school dropouts begin in middle school.

UPCOMING EVENTS

27th Annual Bow-a-thon

Believe it or not, Unlocking Futures, Inc. is hosting its 27th annual Bowlathon fund raiser on March 15th. Each lane supports a youth through the program for a year. CLICK HERE for more information.